


You Know Love Will Set You Free

by swansea23



Category: Men's Hockey RPF
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Friends to Lovers, Headaches & Migraines, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-02
Updated: 2021-01-02
Packaged: 2021-03-12 03:33:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,181
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28503795
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/swansea23/pseuds/swansea23
Summary: Nolan only wore it on particularly bad days, when he needed the comfort it brought, and there was nobody around to witness how miserable his life had become.
Relationships: Travis Konecny/Nolan Patrick
Comments: 5
Kudos: 126





	You Know Love Will Set You Free

**Author's Note:**

> Title from "Love Will Set You Free" by Kodaline

Nolan only wore it on particularly bad days, when he needed the comfort it brought, and there was nobody around to witness how miserable his life had become. It was just an old hoodie of TK’s that he’d left at Nolan’s house months ago. Nolan had found it when he was cleaning up after Hurricane Travis had rolled in one night and forced Nolan into a six-hour video game marathon, which included takeout sushi, non-diet-approved cookies and cream ice cream, and ended with both of them passed out on the couch. Sometime during the night, Travis must have gotten hot, and he’d taken off the hoodie and tossed it somewhere across the room. Nolan was going to give it back after he’d found it, he swore to himself he would. Instead, it ended up hidden away in the back of his closet. 

The first time he’d taken it out, Travis was with the team in Dallas, and Nolan was stuck at home with the lights turned off, the AC down, and his misery levels at an all-time high. He couldn’t even watch the game; screens were strictly off-limits. So instead, he grabbed TK’s hoodie out of the closet, pulled it over his head, and fell into a semi-comfortable sleep, which was pretty fortunate considering the state of his head. When he woke the next morning, he told himself that it was a one-time thing. A moment of weakness, not to be repeated. But, more and more migraine days came, and they broke down his restraint. He wasn’t stupid though, and he only wore it when he was home alone, with no chance of TK stopping by. He knew the hoodie would be difficult to explain. Best case scenario TK brushes it off with a few chirps. Worst case scenario, TK would realize Nolan’s distinctly un-bro-like feelings for him, and their friendship would crumble right then and there. Nolan didn’t even want to think about that possibility. He spent enough time forcing his feelings below the surface, putting on a brave face, and acting like everything in his life was fine. He had the same rule for the migraines as he did for his feelings for TK: pretend everything is fine, don’t let anybody see how affected you are. Show no weakness. 

He’d learned pretty early on that being gay and in the NHL, he had to split himself in two. Hide one side so that the other can survive. Sacrifice freedom, vulnerability, openness, and love so that one day he could hold the Stanley cup in his hands. If anybody knew that he was in love with his best friend, his teammate, then all of his hard work would be undone. The days, the weeks, the years of playing it straight, of hiding his true self, would have been for nothing. He was not going to let that happen. So he treaded carefully 99% of the time. But when a bad migraine day hit, who could blame a guy for wanting a little relief?

❊ ❊ ❊ ❊ ❊ ❊ ❊ ❊ 

Nolan woke up knowing it was going to be a rough day. He sat up slowly in bed, fighting against the nausea and dizziness. He shuffled to the bathroom, downed his pills along with a glass of water from the tap. He took out the emergency saltines he kept in his nightstand and nibbled them gingerly. Then, he dug out the TK hoodie, pulled it over his head, and laid down just as slowly as he had gotten up. Same old routine.

He fell into a fitful sleep and woke up only to vomit his breakfast of dry crackers and water into the bucket by his bed. His head ached worse than it had in weeks. He had a pretty high pain tolerance, he was a hockey player after all, but this was nothing in comparison to a hockey injury. It felt like his own head was trying to murder him. He was all alone; the team was in Boston, so he let himself burrow deeper into TK’s hoodie and cry himself back into a pain-filled sleep. 

When he woke up again, his head felt fuzzy, his mouth was dry, and he wasn’t sure if it was afternoon or evening, or the next morning even. The pain had subsided enough that he was able to open his eyes in the darkened room without everything going all spinny. He saw a bottle of Gatorade on his nightstand along with some dry toast and a banana. He wasn’t sure how it got there, though he didn’t have the strength to question. He downed the bottle of Gatorade, ate the food as best he could without upsetting the ceasefire he currently had with his stomach, then fell back to sleep. The next time he woke up he felt able to go brush his teeth and wash his face. He realized it was around midnight, so he padded down the stairs and into the living room, and nearly jumped out of his skin when he saw TK on his couch, watching an Office marathon.

“What are you doing here?” Nolan practically shrieked. He suddenly remembered the food and drink on his table earlier that day. How long had TK been here? “You’re supposed to be in Boston”

“Left immediately after the game, you hadn’t returned my texts so I figured something was wrong.”

“Oh, well, um thanks you didn’t have to do that,” Nolan mumbled more to the floor than to TK directly.

“I know I didn’t have to, I wanted to.” TK got up from the couch and started walking toward where Nolan stood, rooted to the ground. He approached cautiously as if he was trying not to frighten a baby deer. He got so close, they were practically standing toe to toe. 

“You know I’d do anything for you Patty, you know that right?” TK said, a tone of desperation in his voice as if he truly needed Nolan to understand his words.

Nolan nodded slowly. TK reached up and tucked a strand of hair behind Nolan’s ear. Nolan couldn’t help it, his defenses were still down from the migraine, so he leaned into the touch and let out an embarrassing sound that one could only describe as a whimper. TK didn’t laugh though as Nolan expected. Instead, he stood on his tippy toes and kissed Nolan. Nolan was caught completely off guard and started to lose his balance and stumble back. Travis hauled him back upright and deepened the kiss. Nolan finally started to get with the program and kiss back. He licked into Travis’s mouth, making him groan. Nolan shuddered at the noise and tightened his arms around TK’s waist. 

“I love you, Nolan,” Travis whispered as the kiss broke. 

“I love you too Travis,” Nolan whispered back.

TK’s face broke into a blindly bright grin.

“I know, babe. I kind of gathered that from the hoodie.”

Nolan looked down at the number 11 sewn into the fabric and burst out laughing. TK joined in too, and Nolan couldn’t remember a time when he’d felt this free.


End file.
